Residents of Bade Local Government Area of Yobe State have appealed to Governor Mai Mala Buni to establish a dialysis centre in Gashua, citing the growing burden of chronic kidney disease that has affected communities in the area for more than a decade.
The residents say the absence of a dialysis facility in Gashua forces patients to travel regularly to Damaturu for treatment, worsening the physical and financial challenges faced by affected families.
Although dialysis services are provided free of charge at the Yobe State University Teaching Hospital, patients from Bade and neighbouring communities must undertake long journeys several times a week to access treatment.
A resident, Hamza Muhammad Tasi’u, said many patients are already in fragile health and struggle to cope with the demands of frequent travel.
“People are going to Damaturu for dialysis, which is costing patients and their families a lot. Some patients require multiple sessions every week, and the transportation costs alone have become a heavy burden,” he said.
According to him, many relatives are forced to spend days away from home caring for patients, while others resort to borrowing money to cover transport and feeding expenses.
The call was echoed by Abdullahi Kaigama of the Save Gashua Kidney Disease Initiative, who said the disease had touched nearly every family in the area.
“Many families in Gashua have lost loved ones to kidney disease. We are appealing to Governor Buni to establish a dialysis centre in Gashua because it will significantly reduce the suffering of patients,” he said.
The appeal comes as a multidisciplinary research team sponsored by the Yobe State Government continues investigations into the causes of chronic kidney disease in Bade Local Government Area.
The Principal Investigator, Mahmoud Bukar Maina, said researchers have collected more than 2,000 blood and urine samples, alongside hundreds of soil, water, fish and vegetable samples, as part of efforts to identify possible risk factors associated with the disease.
“For more than a decade, we have witnessed rising cases of kidney disease in Bade Local Government Area,” he said.
Health experts say chronic kidney disease often develops without noticeable symptoms in its early stages, making diagnosis and treatment difficult until the condition becomes severe. Common symptoms include fatigue, swelling, reduced urine output and high blood pressure.
Efforts to obtain comments from Yobe State Commissioner for Health, Lawan Gana, were unsuccessful as calls and text messages seeking his response were not returned as of the time of filing this report.
